Great Lakes water levels are definitely rising due to the ample snow melt in the last two months. The top pictures were taken at a location where it is easy to see the change. The shoreline at the Old Mission Peninsula Lighthouse in Grand Traverse Bay in Lake Michigan drops off very slowly. There are rocks in the water. Since 2000, most of the rocks near the shoreline have sat on dry sand. I just took a picture yesterday showing you the water is starting to creep up to surround the rocks. The bottom picture shows how dry it was in 2012.

I've been visiting the beach at Old Mission Lighthouse for 20 years. This is the highest I've seen the water in quite a few years. Just as an educated guess, I'd say if the water rises another two feet, all of the rocks will be in standing water.

View full sizeThis graph shows the past, current, and forecast lake levels of all the Great Lakes. The blue dots show the rise of the water since snow started melting in March.NOAA/Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

How much have the lakes risen?

The graph from GLERL shows a lot of information about each of the Great Lakes water levels.

The blue dots show the recorded monthly average water level. Notice that the low water level this past March 2014 was higher than the low water level in March 2013 for all the lakes.

Now the seasonal rise in water levels is underway, with snow melt and spring rainfall running off into the Great Lakes. Lake Michigan-Huron has risen 9.8 inches since March. Lake Superior has risen 5.9 inches since March. Lake Erie is up 13.3 inches and Lake Ontario is up 21.2 inches.

I think two other items are important on this graph. The brown bars are the forecasts of lake levels over the next six months. The straight, solid red line represents the long term average water level of each Great Lake.

All of the Great Lakes except Lake Michigan-Huron are at or above their long term average. But Lake Michigan-Huron is approaching its long term average. The brown bars show the range of water level forecasts. In July and August, Lake Michigan-Huron could surpass its long term average water level if it can reach into the upper part of the water level forecast.

Lake Superior, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario will rise well above their long term average water level this summer.

If we have a cool, wet summer, and another snowy winter, the talk could turn toward water levels getting a little too high. It would take quite an abnormal weather pattern for this to happen, but I think we will all agree we are in that abnormal pattern now. It's just a question of how long this pattern will last.

That is something we will just have to wait and see.

Do you have pictures and signs of rising water? You can now post your pictures in the comments section below. Click on the camera icon.

MLive Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa has been forecasting Michigan weather for more than 20 years. He's been chief meteorologist at three television news stations in Michigan, and he's an avid gardener and hunter. Email him at mark@farmerweather.com and find him on Facebook at facebook.com/mark.torregrossa and Twitter @weathermanmark